Mower.



No. 864,380. PATENTED AUG. 27, 1907. I'. KIERZEK.

MOWER.

APPLIUATION FILED DB0. 2e. 190e.

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MOWBR.

APPLIQATION FILED 111:0. 2a. 190e.

PATENTED AUG. 27, 1907.

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25 as FTE-4 tmmi d/MM CMQ @Jaaf- FRANK KIERZEK, OF ARGYLE, MINNESOTA.

MOWER.

No. 864,380. p

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 27, 1907.

Application iled December 28,1906. Serial No. 849,846.

To all 'whom it may concern:

l-Be it known that I, FRANK KIERZEK, a citizen oi the United States,residing at Argyle, in the county of Marshall, State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowers; and I do herebydeclare the 'following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to Which itappertains to make and use the same. y n' The present invention relatesto mowing machines, and has for its object to provide an improvedsupporting frame for the driving mechanism by which the reciprocatingcutter is operated.

A further object consists in the provision of improved means forsupporting the finger-bar across which the cutter bar moves, to regulatethe distance of the entire cutting mechanism from the ground and enablethe mower to operate in grass of any length.

The invention further consists in the combination, construction, andarrangement or1 parts, all as hereinafter fully described, specificallyclaimed, and illus# trated in the accompanying drawings, in which likeparts are designated by corresponding reference numerals in the severalviews.

Of the said drawings-Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved mower.Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the frame for thedriving mechanism. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. l. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. l,showing one of the supporting sleeves for the finger-bar and the sleevecarried thereby.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 7 designates the axle ofthe machine upon which is loosely mounted a pair of rearwardly-extendingbars 8, whose opposite ends are connected by the handle bar 8, the barsbeing further connected by a pair' of intersecting braces 9. To 'preventlateral movement of the bars upon the axle, the latter carries a pair ofcollars 7 arranged adjacent the opposite faces of each handle.

The usual spurred traction wheels 10 are mounted upon the axleexteriorly of the handles 8, and, as shown in Fig. 1, one end oi theaxle extends some distance beyond the corresponding traction wheel andcarries an open irame generally designated 11, in which the drivingmechanism for actuating the cutter-bar is mounted. This frame 11, asshown, comprises a pair of metal straps 12, which are loosely mounted attheir rear ends upon the projecting axle end, and are connected at theiropposite end by a strap 13, the straps 12 being retained upon the axleby collars 11, similar to the collars 7.

Mounted on the axle between the straps 12 is a gear wheel 14, in meshwith a smaller gear 15 mounted on a shaft 15 disposed transversely oisaid straps and carried in brackets 16 secured to said straps, the outerend of said shaft extending beyond the corresponding strap 12 andcarrying a beveled gear 17, in mesh with a smaller gear 18 fast onvtherear end of a shait 18 arranged longitudinally of its strap and mountedwithin a bracket l9'at the front end thereof. The opposite end of theshaft 18 carries a crank disk 20, whose pin 20 ,is connected with oneend of apitman 21, whose opposite end carries a pin 21 connected withthe projecting end 22 of the cutter-bar 23. The cutter bar is of theusual construction and carries the knives 24 which move transverselythrough the slots 24 in the fingers 25 oi the inger-bar 26, which latterhas secured thereto a series of plates 27, each provided with aforwardly-extending section which extends across the upper face of thecutter-bar, to retain the latter in place.

The iront end of each bar 8 carries a forwardly extending brace 29bolted at its rear end to the adjacent handle end and having its irontend bent at right-angles and secured to the linger-bar 26 to support thecutting mechanism as a whole.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that upon forward movement of themachine the cutter-bar will be reciprocated through its pitman andcrank-disk connection with the shaft 18 whose rotation is effected fromthe axle 7 through the gears 14, 15, 17 and 1S, the slotted fingers oithe bar 26 cooperating with the knives of the cutter-plate in the usualmanner.

In order to adapt the machine for cutting different lengths of grass,the finger-bar `is provided at each end with an opening 30 through whichextends loosely the threaded stem 31 of a yoke or bracket 32, carrying awheel 33. Movable upon the stem of each bracket is an interiorlythreaded sleeve 34, which is adapted to bear against the under face ofthe nger-bar, so that the latter may be raised or lowered on theyoke-stem as desired, thus adjusting the distance of the cuttingmechanism from the ground. The iree end of each yoke-stem carries a nut35, which is adapted to bear against the outer face of the `finger-barto retain the latter in its adjusted position. It will thus be apparentthat the cutting mechanism may be adjusted to operate at any desireddistance from the ground to regulate the length to which the grass iscut, and it will be further apparent that during the adjustment oi thecutting mechanism the frame 11, which carries the drive mechanism forthe latter,- will 4have a corresponding pivotal movement upon the axle7, owing to the strap connection 13 between the front end of the innerframe member 12 and the adjacent end oi the iinger-bar. It is notintended that the invention be limited to the exact details ofconstruction shown and described, as modifications and changes mayobviously be made within the scope of the appended claims.

5 bar connecting said bars, cutting mechanism secured to said bars andincluding a nger-bar, and a cutter-bar adapted to be reciprocatedthereover; an open frame loosely mounted on said axle at one endthereof; and `driving mechanism disposed within said frame and connectedwith the cutter-bar for actuating the same, said driving mechanism beingoperated by the rotation of said.

axle. v

2. A mowing machine comprising, in combination with an axle and tractionwheels carried thereby; a pair of rearwardly extending bars secured tothe axle; a handle har connecting said hars, cutting mechanism securedto said bars and including a finger-bar, and a cutter-bar adapted to bereciprocated thereover; a pair of straps loosely mounted at their rearends upon one end of said 2O axle exteriorly of the adjacent tractionWheel, and arranged in spaced relation to each other; a gear mounted onsaid axle between said straps; a shaft mounted transversely on saidstraps, in front of said axle; a gear carried by said transverse shaftbetween said straps and arranged to mesh with the first-mentioned gear;a gear mounted on the outer end of said transverse shaft; alongitudinally' disposed shaft mounted on one of the straps; a gearmounted on the rear end of said longitudinal shaft in mesh` with saidlast-mentioned gear; and driving connections between the opposite end ofsaid longitudinal shaft and said cutter-bar for actuating saidcutter-bar.

3. The combination, in a mowing machine, of an axle and traction wheelsmounted thereon a pair of rearwardly extending bars mounted upon saidaxle; a handle bar connecting said bars cutting mechanism secured tosaidbars and comprising a finger-bar and a cutter-bar adapted to bereciprocated thereover a frame loosely mounted on said axle at one endthereof and connected with said finger-bar driving mechanism carried bysaid frame and`connected with said cutter-bar for actuating the same;and means connected with said finger-bar for bodily raising or loweringsaid cutting mechanism.

i. The combination, in a mowing machine, of an axle and traction wheelsmounted thereon; al pair of rearwardly extending bars mounted upon saidaxle; a handle bar connecting said bars; cutting mechanism secured to"said bars and comprising a nger-bar having an opening formedtherethrough at each-end, and a cutter-bar adapted to be reciprocatedthereover; a frame loosely mounted on said axle exteriorly of' one ofsaid traction wheels; driving mechanism carried by said frame andconnected with said cutter-bar for actuating the same, said drivingmechanism being operated by the rotation of the axle; a yoke disposed ateach end of said iingerbar and including a threaded stem passing throughthe corresponding opening therein; a wheel rotatably mounted in eachyoke; an interiorly threaded sleeveV movable upon the stem of each yokeand adapted to bear at its upper end against the under i'ace of saidlinger-bar for adjusting the position of the latter towards and from theground; and a nut mounted upon the free end of each yoke stem andadapted to be moved into engagement with the upper face of saidlinger-bar to retain tne same in adjusted position.

In testimony whereof, I aftix my signature, in presence Witnesses PETERKIRSCH, ANTON Paw'rosiii.

